Getting old

I turn 28 Tuesday. I will officially be in my late 20s and I am almost 30, which is officially old. I don't want to be old.

My maternal grandparents are healthy happy people. They recently moved into a retirement community, which basically means nothing except they have a community pool, play cards in the rec room, and that my grandfather no longer has a bar in his garage (which I miss terribly). They get out, do stuff, swim, go to the swap meet, etc.

My paternal grandfather is dead. My paternal grandmother is still going, although she has macular degeneration, which basically means that she is slowly going blind. She lives with her youngest son who is schizophrenic. She complains a lot. I have a lot of respect for my grandmother because she raised my pain-in-the-ass father and his 6 pain-in-the-ass siblings. She has a right to complain to a sense because her husband is gone, she lost one of her sons 25 years ago to a car accident, and of course the aforementioned macular degeneration. However, she really complains a lot.

That is where I find myself not wanting to get old. I can deal with hip replacements and dentures. I can deal with somewhat limited mobility and having to pull my pants up too high. But I really do not want to be a grumpy ass old man (dirty old man I am OK with). I hope that if I get to that point somebody says something to me, either my wife, my kids, or even the neighbors. I also do not look forward to having my friends die. I have few enough of them already, so it would be tough for me. Other than that, I am going to deal with my increasing age OK, but damn, I can really feel it in my knees and often catch myself saying "you know how kids are these days", which really hurts more than my knees.